Mechanical optical switching device

A mechanical optical switching device, comprising:

• an input assembly comprising a plurality of input optical fibers and a multi-fiber ferrule holding said input optical fibers therein;
• an output assembly comprising a plurality of output optical fibers and a multi-fiber ferrule holding said output optical fibers therein;
• two lens arrays disposed between said input assembly and said output assembly, each of said lens arrays comprising a plurality of lenses, each of said lenses comprising an aspherically curved end face for collimating or focusing respective input or output light beams;
• a lens holder comprising two boards, each of said boards comprising a plurality of holes fixedly receiving said lenses of a respective one of said lens arrays;
• and
• a driving means for driving said lenses of said lens arrays in order to switch optical transmission paths;
• wherein said multi-fiber ferrules of said input assembly and said output assembly each comprise an inner core and an outer cladding, and said input optical fibers and output optical fibers are respectively evenly spaced and fixedly secured between said inner core and outer cladding.

A mechanical optical switch comprising:

• an input assembly including a plurality of input fibers enclosing in a first holder;
• an output assembly including a plurality of output fibers enclosing in a second holder;
• and
• two light deflection devices moveable between said input assembly and said output assembly to result in different selective light paths each passing one selected input fiber and one selected output fiber;
• wherein
• at least one of said first and second holder comprises an inner core and an coaxial outer cladding with the corresponding fibers sandwiched therebetween.